Penguin Sledding
by ZutaraFan95
Summary: Zuko takes his daughter to the South Pole to visit Katara and her kids


Honoura had never seen snow before. It fell like a thousand tiny teardrops coating her face, melting as soon as they touched her satin skin.

"It's so beautiful." She whispered to her father as they both glanced out of the palanquin. Zuko smiled happily at his daughter. Katara would be grateful to hear that he had brought his daughter to the South Pole with him. She had written him letters by the dozens requesting for her to come and spend life outside of the palace.

The palanquin suddenly touches land and Honoura shoots out from the curtains and into a white world as to which she has never known. She was born in the sticky dawn of summer and had never gone a day where sweat didn't run down her jaw line, the salty taste in her mouth. The snow here was so thick it practically blinded her. The sun reflected off the white dunes creating a rainbow effect of tiny shards and sparkles. She gasped in awe of it all.

"This is no place for a firebender," the firelord stands in all his robes bundled from head to toe, still he shivered.

"Remember the breath of fire that I taught you, Honoura. It will prevent your body temperature from falling to low."

Of course her father would be thinking about this now. He wasn't much for the beauty of nature. A snowball suddenly hits him in the face sending him sputtering.

"Hey, Zuzu! Thought you would never make it." Katara stands a few feet away wearing a smirk and swirling another ball of ice in her hand. Honoura races towards her and is captured in her arms. She smelled of warm sunshine and flowers.

"Look how big you are now! My your almost as tall as Kya, now." Katara shoves her hair from her eyes and brushes stray bits of snow from her raven locks.

"Zuko, she's a girl you know. Don't you know how to brush hair?"

"It was a long ride and the winds are stronger here than they are in the Fire Nation." His voice had a sour edge to it, which both girls couldn't help but laugh at.

"I'm only teasing, Zuko. Get inside before you freeze to death."

Honoura was surprised at how warm the inside of the house was compared to the outside. She shrugged off her robes and explores the rest of the hut. It was quite homely, small but cozy. Ceremonial water tribe parkas and decorations lined the walls which differed greatly from that of her own home.

She hears a shout suddenly and looks out the window to see a girl quickly encasing a boy in a block of ice.

"I told you to stop that Bumi! Now good luck getting yourself unfrozen."

She rushes outside to where Kya is standing over Bumi grinning. She had never seen someone so brown in her life. Everyone in the fire nation was as pale as an oyster-snail's pearl, but Kya had a lovely mocha coloring that reminded her of the chocolates her father had given to her on her birthday. Kya looks up suddenly and shifts into a defensive stance.

"Who are you?"

"H-honoura. I came here with my father." A smile lights up her brown face and she comes bounding up to her suddenly, throwing her arms around her.

"Mother told us about you, princess. She said for us to make sure you didn't freeze to death."

"Is it really obvious that I haven't seen snow before?"

"Your face is as red as your robes."

Honoura notices how the breathe sneaks out from between her cheeks and creates little puffs in the air. The cold air had already seeped into her bones and seemed to settle there. It was all so fascinating and yet terrifying.

"To commemorate your first time in the South Pole, we're going to take you penguin sledding."

"Hey! It was my idea to take her so unfreeze me!" Kya shakes her head stubbornly. Honoura walks over to the giant sheet of ice that is Bumi and places a palm in the center of the ice. She concentrates all of her energy into the center of her hand and soon the ice is melting.

"Thanks."

Instead of telling her what penguin sledding was, Kya and Bumi led her to a place where the dunes had been eroded by the water and sea animals were lounging against the shore. Honoura was amazed at how big the polar leopards were until Bumi offered her some jerky made out of the poor creature. The penguins were adorable but so fast!

"How do you plan to catch one?" This question wasn't answered either. A smelly fish was shoved into her hands, instead. The penguins flocked to her trying to peck the fish out of her hands.

"Grab one!" Kya shouted. She did as she was told and suddenly she was flying down the slopes of caves. It took everything she had to hold onto the slippery leather of the penguin. She clamped her eyes shut as the world flew before her but suddenly Kya was beside her and laughing like crazy.

"Relax, princess! Enjoy the ride." Finally then was Honoura able to enjoy herself. She laughed and screamed until she couldn't feel her voice anymore. She was flung into a pile of snow with Kya and Bumi landing on top of her.

"That was amazing!"

"Our dad showed our mom that, then he showed us."

"Now you're an honorary member of the water tribe." She laughs and bows in thanks.

"They should have been home by now!" Zuko paces the floor while Katara laughs at him.

"Relax, Zuko. They're probably just showing her around. Let her be a kid for a while." Katara had always known Zuko for his worrisome nature. It had only increased tenfold now that he had a daughter.

"What if she's been eaten by a polar bear dog or she's freezing to death?"

"Kya happens to be an excellent water bender. And I know for a fact that your daughter is a superb fire bender."

This seems to placate him a little, for he sits down next to Katara and sulks silently.

"You know, your daughter looks just like you. Although I have to saw she's much prettier." He smiles before he gets the brunt of the joke, then scowls at her.

Katara cackles, "You haven't changed at all."

"I see all these terrible things going on around me and all I want to do is protect her from them. I don't want the life for her that I had. Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing a good job."

"You've chosen a hard burden for yourself. But you can't keep worrying about the awful things that your father did. You have to learn from his and your mistakes and move on."

Suddenly the door bursts open and three very wet and very cold children stumble in. Kya and Bumi are grinning from ear to ear. Honoura's face is as red as her fire nation robes yet she smiles as well. She rushes into her father's arm chattering on and on about snow and penguin sledding. Zuko takes his daughter's very cold face in his hands and warms her cheeks with fire bending. The snow melts off her face slowly and the redness in her face quickly fades to her regular pale coloring.

Katara remembers the angry boy who had chased Aang all over the world to the uncertain, sulky teenager who was so unsure of himself. He was still that unsure child made that way from all the trauma he had faced. But along the way all the anger had leaked out, like the air from a war balloon.

Honoura takes her father's hand and leads him up an icy dune. His nose is frozen and all he wants to do is be on the ship back home to the fire nation but his daughter had insisted on showing him something before they left.

"For gods sake, I'm freezing!"

"It will be worth it, just wait!" she leads him into a clearing where polar leopards a lying about lazily and penguins scatter back and forth between dry land and the sea.

"You've brought me to see the local wild life?" She places a slimy fish in hands. He crinkles up his nose at the smell.

"Just wait," she smiles slyly.


End file.
